To dare mighty things
by MessySummer
Summary: Everything started with that Soulmate bullshit.
1. Chapter 1

Everything belongs to JK Rowling.

Hey guys, just started to write again. I will try to upload once a month. I am also in need of a beta reader (english is not my mother tongue).

 _"...and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment..."_  
 _Plato_

Hermione Granger was having an awful day. She woke up with a pounding headache, sore muscles and hair as wild as Godric Griffindor's mane.

Stepping out of bed, she shivered as her bare feet made contact with the cold tiles. Through the window, rain was pouring on the green lusty vegetation. She admired the cackling of the thunder through the cloudy sky before heading towards the bathroom for a steaming morning shower.

She did not realised anything was wrong until she caught her naked reflection in the large mirror opposite of the large bath. Under her left breast, futhorc, Anglo-saxon Runes were tattooed in her red angry skin, black as inked in her snow white skin.

" What the fuck ?! " She shrieked.

Hermione panicked, a cold feeling settling in her stomach. She did not remember getting a tattoo, nor did she remember anything inked there yesterday. Her mind went into a complete analysis of the situation. She had studied Ancient Runes at Hogwarts. The old writing was commonly used in Wizarding rituals and divination before 1100 AD. Ancient Runes in magic were more powerful than latin or modern english. It is said that Wizards of Avalon used Runes for spell casting because of their ability to infuse a large amount of magical essence of the caster in the incantation. Merlin himself had chosen a Rune as his mark. Runes could bring power, strength and glory, but one mistake in the writing could eternally ruin a Wizard.

Wrapping a robe around herself, Hermione ran downstairs, tripping on a couple of books in her living room. Stepping in the fireplace, she grabbed a handful of floo powder.

" 12 Grimmauld Place. "

Tumbling out in the kitchen of the Potters, she hit her hip against the dinner table, making all the plates crash in a noisy shambles and waking all the neighbours.

Harry Potter, hair as messy as Ron Weasley 's eating habits, was standing behind her in thirty seconds, wand on her throat.

" Her... Hermione ? What are you doing ? " He lowered his wand. " For fuck's sake, it's only 5:30 am. " He groaned.

The Boy-Who-Survived seemed pretty pissed off. Hermione realised that she should have probably waited until a decent hour to show up. Switching on the fifty-seven candles in the kitchen with a flip of his wand, he took a look at his best friend. Hermione realised her state, she was barefoot, wearing that ugly pink robe Ginny had bought her as a joke after Umbridge was fired from Hogwarts. Her bed-sex hair (whatever they call it nowadays) looked as untameable as usual. He would not know something was wrong until he looked at her eyes. Comprehending the seriousness of the situation, he sat her in the chair.

" Do you want some tea ? " He murmured.

She nodded. The tea pot started dancing above the stove and teacups moved themselves from the shelves of the kitchen.

Harry took her hand in his to show his support. Silence was welcomed between the pair until they were sitting with some tea in the old kitchen. Hermione slowly untucked her robe, careful not to reveal unnecessary skin (which was bullshit since they had lived together at the Burrow and seen each other in plenty of compromising situations).

" What is that ? " Asked the man. " I don't know, it appeared this morning, the only explanation for it, is that someone cursed me. I was hoping I could used your library. "

Harry raised an eyebrow. Okay, she knew she never had to ask him. Harry would have said yes to anything Ron or her would request of him and vice versa. She could ask him to jump, he would ask how high.

Ginny Potter emerged from the staircase. In her red nightie and fluffy slippers, she looked like a model on the cover of Witch Weekly. She shot the two others a disinterested look until her eyes fell on Hermione breast. She tensed for a minute before starting to make breakfast. Hermione eyed her with a suspicious look.

" You know what this is. "

Ginny simply served herself some pumpkin juice, but a smirk was firmly in place on her lips.

" Ginny ! " Hermione groaned. The redhead shot her a cheeky look before sitting next to her.

" It's a Soulmate mark. "

" A what ? " Hermione and Harry looked at each other confused.

" A Soulmate mark. That line that intersects the circle is the formation of two halves coming together. " She explained.

" How have we never heard of that ? " Her husband asked.

" Well, you were both raised in a muggle environment, you probably haven't heard of it because it is not exactly common. " She took a gulped of her juice before continuing. " The mark can appear on you at anytime but it is usually when one the mate is at least twenty of age. There is a small window for it, as your Soulmate has to be born in your lifetime. The most numerous Soulmate marks recorded in a century was four couples. There is even the record of a Wizard receiving the mark at 98 years old when his mate was just born." She explained.

It made sense, really, thought Hermione. Wizards and Witches had been around since the beginning of the world, as Chamans or Greek Priests and Priestesses. Soulmates could not be born at the same time always. The chances of two people sharing a same soul born in the same century were slim, not impossible, but surely quite rare. What were the repercussions of such a marking though ?

" Is it going to influence me ? "

" No, of course not Hermione. You are not Veela, you are not going to die without your mate or anything. But this is rare Hermione, you could be with someone that completes you and makes you incredibly happy. " Ginny eyes twinkled in a Dumbledore-ish fashion.

Hermione resumed what she knew about Veelas. Veelas mated for life, but not because their magical essence and souls were connected. It was a genetic and physical match. They recognised their mates with pheromonal releases and scents. She concluded that Veelas did not have true Soulmates.

The fact that Hermione did not have any obligations to her soulmate was a relief. She was a firm believer that people had their right to chose. Destiny was for people who looked for an excuse, strong people did not think that success or failure relied on the freaking weather.

Harry hugged her shoulders and Hermione smiled to him. Hermione and Harry (and Ron) had been best friends for a decade. They went through death, happiness and puberty together. They were not _only_ friends or _just_ loved each other, their souls were intertwined like the vines of the Whomping Willow. Their bond was above everything else in this world with a veritable trust between them.

Everything would be alright.

Little did she know, Draco Malfoy decided he wanted to find her.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco Malfoy contemplated his situation. He was in the Department of Mysteries. He could still back down and leave. However, it had been two months since his twentieth birthday and the Soulmate mark appearance on the inside of his right arm, just above the Dark Mark. It was funny how love and hate were inked on him, next to each other. The Runes could almost touch the black skull and the snake would sometimes intertwine itself with the bar of the final Rune, its tongue tasting the letters.

The reason for Draco Malfoy presence in the Ministry was that no one had reported any Soulmate mark appearance. Desperate, he had checked _The Prophet_ and the _WICA,_ _Wizarding International Chronicles Accounts_ every single fucking day for the last two months. The usual fashion would be that the Witch or Wizard first seeing the mark would announce it publicly to let their counterpart know of their identity. A Soulmate was seen as a benediction in the Wizarding world. It is said that Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw had shared such a bond. Not many archives had recorded history of Soulmates, but as the heir of one of the oldest lines of Purebloods, he had the Malfoy library at its disposition. Draco Malfoy knew the real secrets of a Soulmate mark. Thus, he wanted to find her and the only place recording such things was the Department of Mysteries. He had the feeling that the anonymity of his half was that she did not want to be discovered. There had been refusals of Soulmates in history, but it might have been the first time that a Witch or Wizard would ignore the mark altogether. Draco Malfoy, renown ex-Death Eaters could not afford the luxury of announcing the mark to the press, this would surely result in a flat out rejection for him, except if she was Pureblood. However, he was not counting on it as the Sacred Twenty-Eight had been reduced to the Sacred Eight during the last War and the last eight families had united their heirs, leaving him left out (Weasley married Potter, so yeah life sucks). The Greengrass had insured him that their youngest one could be his. She was graceful and nice on the eyes, but so frivolous he would have bit Buckhead the Hippogriff before marrying her.

The result would be that his intendee would surely be a less pure Pureblood (if it made sense), a halfblood or a muggleborn Witch. In any of these three cases, most of them had stood against Voldemort during the War and the chances of his Soulmate despising him were quite high. The only way to find her was to look at the Department of Mysteries' records. The person he was meeting today went to Hogwart with him in the same year. After the War, the fellow had gone back to Hogwart for his 8th year. Acclaimed by his fellow and admired by most of the people of his house, the man grew a backbone and graduated in the top three students of his promotions with four O's and two E's in his _NEWTS_. He worked at the Department of Mysteries as an Apprentice for a year before challenging the Head, Nathaniel Shadebrisk and criticising how the Department was led. He succeeded in rallying two third of the Unspeakables to his cause and overthrowing Shadebrisk in two weeks. It was the first time in Wizarding history that Unspeakables had been in the middle of a politic affair. The Ministry had no right to get tangle in that web as the Department of Mysteries was one of the only Departments completely independent from the core politics.

The man sat behind an expensive desk made of the finest wood literally oozed confidence. Draco had to say, Longbottom crisp suit and casual demeanour made him doubt about his memories of the scared and clumsy little Gryffindor.

"Malfoy." Greeted the other man.

"Longbottom."

"What brings you here ?" Longbottom inquired.

Longbottom and Malfoy's relationship was unusual per say. They were never extremely friendly to each other, but Malfoy did consider him a friend and vice versa. However, Slytherins were never quite the type to reveal themselves or show their real persona. They were always polite, but Draco never shared any of his real motivations to Neville nor did he ever deny any suppositions Neville made. It was the game of the cat and mouse.

"I was just around, so I thought about ducking here to visit you." To support his innocent claim, Draco kept his face straight and indifferent.

"I see. Would you want some tea ?" Longbottom was looking at him with knowing eyes.

"Sure. I have seen a couple of Unspeakables running around. It looks like you have been busy."

"Yes, we have. Couple of unexpected things happening here and there." Neville kept kept his head on the parchment he was 'reading'.  
Malfoy waited for him to elaborate and maybe win this round without uttering any word, however, the room stayed silent. _Damn, the Gryffindor is good._

"Couple of things ? Sounds ... interesting." Draco said casually. Longbottom stayed silent. "What has been happening?" The Slytherin propped on his elbows, his shadow partly covering the parchment. Opposite to him, Neville smirked before laying back in his sit.

"Why are you so interested Malfoy ?" Draco's hands tightened. He contemplated jumping across the desk and smacking the other person's face. Instead, he managed self-control, kept his cool demeanour, grabbed the red quill on the desk and pointed the tip of it to Neville's neck.

"You know what I want." Said the blonde with a sneer. The Unspeakable laughed, not flinching a second.

"What do you want ?" "You know why I am here." Reiterated Malfoy. " I won't help you except if you say it aloud." And then, the freaking Gryffindor managed to give him the innocent puppy look.

"I want her name." Really, there were not any details needed. They both knew what they were talking about.

"What do I get in exchange ?" Asked Longbottom. _Gryffindors were evils. They were manipulative monsters. Courageous and Saints my fucking ass_. Slytherins did not get trapped, particularly Malfoys and Draco had no idea how he ended up in this position. Malfoy stared, expecting him to go on.

"I heard that the Malfoys possess a book on Unbreakable Ties."

Oh, so that was the goal ? The Department of Mysteries had a whole room dedicated to the study of the power of Love (made notorious by Lily Evans-Potter). The Malfoy library possessed some of the most ancient and powerful bonding rituals linked to affection. This was a rare and important book. For a moment, Draco thought that Neville had suspicions about the Soulmate bond. Or maybe not. Draco debated, he could make Longbottom more suspicious and refuse the trade or he could accept the offer and pray that Longbottom brain was bottomless enough that he would not link anything that was in the book to the Soulmate bond. Somehow, he doubt that Neville was stupid enough to miss the connection when reading the book. His eyes narrowed but he extended his hand to the man.

"Done." The War Hero shook is hand.

"Hermione Granger."

Malfoy complexion became pale as Neville had a contented and amused look on his face. _Gryffindors_ _were evils._


End file.
